JURIST Sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh
PAPER CHASE NEWSBURSTDigest RSS feedFull RSS feed
Serious law. Primary sources. Global perspective.


Friday, October 20, 2006

Texas death row inmate commits suicide hours before execution
Kate Heneroty at 8:21 AM ET

[JURIST] Michael Dewayne Johnson [backgrounder; TDCJ offender profile], a death row inmate in Texas, committed suicide Thursday, 15-hours before he was scheduled to die by lethal injection [JURIST news archive]. Johnson was convicted of murdering a gas station attendant in 1995, but maintained that he was only a companion to the shooter. Johnson's companion was released from prison after serving an eight-year term in exchange for testifying against his friend.

Johnson became the seventh death row [JURIST news archive] inmate in Texas to commit suicide since 1974. His appeal was rejected by the US Supreme Court last week and he was scheduled to be the state's 22nd execution this year. AP has more.






Link |  | print | subscribe | RSS feeds | latest newscast | Facebook page

For more legal news check the Paper Chase Archive...


LATEST LEGAL NEWS

 Somali pirates sentenced to life in UAE
8:29 AM ET, May 24

 Pakistan doctor sentenced for helping CIA find Bin Laden
7:35 AM ET, May 24

 HRW: China para-police abuse power, overstep authority
3:28 PM ET, May 23

 click for more...

Get JURIST legal news delivered daily to your e-mail!

LATEST FORUM

The US-Afghan Strategic Partnership Agreement
DOMESTIC
Kevin Govern
Ave Maria School of Law

ABOUT

Paper Chase is JURIST's real-time legal news service, powered by a team of 30 law student reporters and editors led by law professor Bernard Hibbitts at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. As an educational service, Paper Chase is dedicated to presenting important legal news and materials rapidly, objectively and intelligibly in an accessible, ad-free format.

CONTACT

Paper Chase welcomes comments, tips and URLs from readers. E-mail us at JURIST@jurist.org